Hardwick Hall gears up for the Great British Food Festival

More than 100 different traders will descend on the Elizabethan country house from May 4-6.

Artisan food producers and street food vendors will be busy making, preserving, baking and packing jams, cakes, cheese, sausages and lots of other tasty treats.

There will also be a great line up of local bands, chef demos, foodie talks, man vs food competitions and a bake stage.

Dan Maycock, one of the organisers, said: ‘We have got a great mix of local produce and best of British, coming from further afield.

“On the hot food front you will be able to try anything from traditional hog roast to Mexican and Thai dishes, so hopefully something for all tastes.”

The Chef Demo stage hosts a headline name for each day, with Great British Bake Off stars, Howard Middleton, Julia Chernogorova and Sandy Docherty all carrying out demonstrations over the weekend.

The Bake Off team will be overseeing the popular Great British Cake Off, where amateur bakers compete head to head in three baking categories- if you enter a cake, you get free entry to the festival.

Youngsters can enjoy kid’s cookery lessons, free circus skills and children’s rides.

See www.greatbritishfoodfestival.com for more info, to enter the bake off or for discounted advanced tickets.